Harbor Beach library board unveils renovation plans

Published 11:29 am, Monday, April 25, 2016

During an informational meeting, Library Board of Trustees Chairwoman Marilyn Townley said renovations are needed to address structural and accessibility issues.

The library, commonly referred to as the Community House, was built in 1927. Like most old buildings, ongoing maintenance and updates are necessary to keep the building structurally sound, efficient and functional, she said.

Library Board of Trustees, along with Library Director Vicki Mazure, said there are some problems with the building that need to be addressed, such as structural damage caused by water leaking into the basement under the sidewalk and brick repair on the buildings exterior.

The building also needs improved functionality because it could be used by more people if it was handicap accessible, Mazure said.

The library plans to increase the accessibility of the building by making it handicap accessible by adding an elevator.

She said if any improvements are going to be made to the building, adding handicap accessibility must be part of the improvements, as required by law, so the building would meet Americans With Disabilities (ADA) standards.

Even if the elevator was not required by law, she said its very important to the functionality of the building.

The elevator will be centrally located near the current south entry to the building, in the area that currently is Mazures office.

Mazure said the location was chosen because it would allow the elevator to be accessible from every floor on the south end of the building including the basement, main floor lobby, Common Room, Womens Club Room and Boy Scout Room. The renovation plans include making the gym handicap accessible as well, she said.

A ground level door will be added on the east side of the gym that will provide accessibility when special events are held in the gym, Mazure said. A handicap accessible area also will be created for people to view the action on the gym floor.

The library also plans to move the Childrens Library next to the south end of the gym, and renovate the existing Childrens Library area into a local history room and Mazures office.

The size of the gym floor, she said, will stay the same, but in order to provide more space for the Childrens Library, the bleacher section from the south end of the gym will be removed.

Mazure said this shouldnt be a problem because the seating on the west side of the gym is plenty for the fans who attend basketball games at the gym. Also, because the bleachers on the south end of the gym are an accident waiting to happen, removing them will eliminate a safety hazard and allow the space to be used for other purposes.

She said there will be an adequate barrier between the gym and the Childrens Library so no ones disturbed by games or practices.

Regarding the new local historical room, Mazure said it will be beneficial because the community has a wealth of history that needs to be preserved for future generations.

She said the library currently has quite a bit of space dedicated to maritime, shipwreck, local and state history. Having a local history room will then free up space in the library for additional materials.

Also, Mazure said there are citizens in the community who have private collections of local history that are willing to donate their collections to the library if the library has the space for them.

Creating this designated area will allow the library to add to its collection of local history and make the collection available to interested people, she said.

The renovation plans also include a new stairway, Mazure said.

The existing stairway that goes up to the Womens Club Room and Boy Scout Room does not meet current building codes, she said. It also creates a problem for access from the elevator to these rooms.

Mazure said moving the stairway to the new location on the east side of the elevator will solve both of these problems.

She said the library hopes to begin construction of phase one next spring, and if all goes well, it should be completed within six months of its starting date. The projected cost of phase one is approximately $917,210, Mazure She said the library plans to borrow about $750,000 from the Michigan Department of Agricultures Rural Development loan program over a 40-year time period. The balance of the funding will come from the librarys fund balance.

Phase two, which would begin sometime within the next five to 10 years, would expand the library and create a workroom, computer area and quiet reading area, Mazure said.

She said plans include extending the building over the sidewalk area from the new south entry to the west end of the building, which would eliminate the remaining water leakage problem and give the library much-needed space.

The addition would match the buildings original architecture quite closely, with similar brick color, brick patterns and detailing, Mazure said.

The cost of phase two is estimated to be $532,000. Because phase two is planned to begin within the next five to 10 years, the library will have plenty of time to conduct fund-raisers and look for grants or other loans to help fund the project, Mazure said.

If money wasnt an issue, Mazure said the entire project would be completed all at once.

She said to keep the renovation within the librarys budget, the plan had to be split into two phases.

In August of last year, voters within several county townships voted against a bond proposal for the renovation of the library. The bond proposition would have authorized the library to borrow the sum of not to exceed $1.8 million and issue tax bonds for the purpose of paying the costs of renovating and constructing an addition to the existing building.

Townley said since then, the library board has researched why the public voted the way they did (483 voting no and 437 voting yes), and found that those who voted against the proposal did so because they didnt want to pay any more taxes.

She said the library board of trustees then went back to the drawing board to formulate the current plan which costs less and breaks the project down into two phases.

This way, no ones taxes will increase and the community will be able to preserve the Community House and keep it accessible for current and future use, Townley said.